BATON ROUGE — No. 12 LSU (26-13, 7-8 SEC) travels to Fayetteville this weekend for a three-game Southeastern Conference series against Arkansas (31-8, 8-7) in Baum Stadium.
Game 1 of the series is set for 7:05 p.m. CDT Friday, Game 2 begins at 3:05 p.m. CDT Saturday and Game 3 starts at 1:05 p.m. CDT Sunday.
The games can be heard statewide on the LSU Sports Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). The radio broadcast and live stats are also available on the LSU Athletics web site, www.LSUsports.net.
Sunday’s game will be televised regionally by the Jumbo Sports Network.
Arkansas and Auburn are tied for second place in the SEC West, trailing first-place Alabama (9-6) by one game. LSU and Ole Miss are in a fifth-place tie in the division, just two games behind the Crimson Tide.
LSU won two of three games from Ole Miss last weekend in Baton Rouge while Arkansas dropped two of three at Tennessee. Each squad played a non-conference game on Tuesday — the Tigers fell to top-ranked Tulane, 11-8, and the Razorbacks defeated Southwest Missouri State, 9-4.
LSU coach Smoke Laval will send senior left-hander Lane Mestepey (5-5, 3.41 ERA) to the mound in Friday’s series opener. Mestepey moved into second place on the all-time LSU wins list March 18 with a complete-game effort at Georgia; however, he has dropped his last four decisions to Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina and Ole Miss.
Mestepey, who has a 34-17 career mark, is four wins shy of the LSU all-time wins record (38) held by Scott Schultz (1992-95).
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn is expected to counter Friday with freshman left-hander Nick Schmidt (5-1, 2.73 ERA).
LSU senior second baseman Clay Harris was named Monday as the SEC Player of the Week by the league office. Harris, a native of Slidell, La., led the 12th-ranked Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including the SEC series victory over Ole Miss.
Harris is hitting a team-high .405 (62-for-153) on the year with 14 doubles, one triple, eight homers and 42 RBI. He is batting a sizzling .667 (14-for-21) in LSU’s last five games with four doubles, three homers and 11 RBI.
Right fielder Nick Stavinoha is also swinging at hot bat, hitting .478 (11-for-23) in his last five games with three doubles, three homers and 10 RBI.
LSU has raised its cumulative average from .291 to .300 in its last five contests. During the five-game stretch, the Tigers are hitting .357 (66-for-185) with 17 doubles, three triples, nine homers and 47 runs. LSU is averaging 13.2 hits and 9.4 runs in the five-game span.
Arkansas is hitting .321 on the year, and the Razorbacks have stolen 88 bases in 106 attempts. Infielder Danny Hamblin leads the club with a .375 average, 14 doubles and nine homers.
LSU leads the all-time series with Arkansas, 36-18, including a 9-7 advantage this decade. The Razorbacks, however, swept three games from the Tigers last season in Baton Rouge.
LSU is just 3-6 in its last three series in Fayetteville, including an Arkansas sweep in 2001 at Baum Stadium. The Tigers won two of three in their last visit to Arkansas in 2003, as LSU’s Game 1 victory clinched the ’03 SEC championship.
SERIES FACTS
#12 LSU Fighting Tigers (26-13, 7-8) at # 11 Arkansas Razorbacks (31-8, 8-7)
DATES/TIMES
Friday, April 22 — 7:05 p.m. CDT; Saturday, April 23 — 3:05 p.m. CDT; Sunday, April 24 — 1:05 p.m. CDT
STADIUM:
Baum Stadium (9,133) in Fayetteville, Ark.
RANKINGS:
LSU (# 12 ESPN/Sports Weekly, # 18 Collegiate Baseball, # 20 Baseball America)
Arkansas (# 11 ESPN/Sports Weekly, # 14 Baseball America, # 17 Collegiate Baseball)
RADIO:
statewide on LSU Sports Network (WDGL 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET:
radio broadcast and live stats of all three games at www.LSUsports.net
TV:
None on Friday and Saturday; Jumbo Sports Network on Sunday (check local listings)
SERIES RECORD:
LSU leads, 36-18
PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1
LSU — Sr. LHP Lane Mestepey (5-5, 3.41 ERA, 66.0 IP, 13 BB, 36 SO)
UA — Fr. LHP Nick Schmidt (5-1, 2.73 ERA, 52.2 IP, 22 BB, 39 SO)
Game 2
LSU — So. LHP Clay Dirks (7-1, 3.56 ERA, 55.2 IP, 19 BB, 37 SO)
UA — TBA
Game 3
LSU — Jr. LHP Greg Smith (5-2, 2.95 ERA, 61.0 IP, 17 BB, 55 SO)
UA — TBA